Politics
Search for Littleton Officer Steven Beare, missing on Russian mountain, officially suspended
LITTLETON, Colo. – The Littleton Police Department and the family of Officer Steven Beare thanked the community for their support Wednesday as the department announced the search for the officer, who went missing on a solo climbing expedition in Russia, has been suspended.
“On behalf of the loved ones of Littleton Police Officer Steven Beare and his LPD family, Chief Doug Stephens thanks those from the Littleton community and everyone around the world for their physical, financial, and emotion support during the search for Steven on Mount Elbrus,” the department wrote in a news release.
Beare’s wife, Olivia, hinted Tuesday that the search might be called off shortly.
“There is just too much snow and harsh weather conditions to continue,” she wrote on Facebook Tuesday. “Life itself as I know it is looking extremely bleak.”
Steven Beare, who is also a member of the National Guard, set out to summit Mount Elbrus earlier this month, but was reported missing June 16 in the midst of a severe snow storm in the area.
Mount Elbrus is Europe’s tallest mountain. Beare had set out to climb the seven highest peaks in the world, and had already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
The Beare family had enlisted a top mountaineer, Don Bowie, to aid in search efforts, and Rep. Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican, met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. late last week to secure more Russian help.
Bowie’s crew and Russian teams have searched for days for Beare without luck.
The Littleton Police Department said Wednesday that search operations are being scaled back this week and there is no new information about Beare’s whereabouts.
“Olivia, Steven’s parents, and extended family ask that you keep them in your prayers. The LPD and city family will continue to help them in any way possible,” the department said, adding that the family is requesting privacy for the time being.
“They will provide updates when there is new information, but still hope to bring Steven home to Colorado,” the department said.
Olivia Beare and her husband have a 20-month-old child and she is pregnant with their second child.
“I want to express my gratitude for the many ways my family has been helped and encouraged,” Olivia said in a statement via the police department. “These difficult times have been eased by so many acts of kindness.”
Hickenlooper comments on health care process show some of disconnect between parties
DENVER – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s bipartisan push to block congressional Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act reached a fever pitch Tuesday morning at a news conference he held with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, just hours before the Senate majority announced it would delay a vote on its version of the health care bill because it didn’t have the votes to bring it to the floor.
There was some question about whether Hickenlooper and Colorado’s Republican senator, Cory Gardner, had even talked about the bill earlier Tuesday after Hickenlooper made comments hinting that they hadn’t talked at a National Press Club news conference Tuesday morning. Continue reading
Federal prosecutors appeal Uzbek terror suspect’s imminent release in Colorado
DENVER – U.S. Justice Department prosecutors on Monday appealed the granting of bail to Uzbek terrorism suspect Jamshid Muhtorov, and his release was postponed Monday to later this week in order to give the court more time to be sure that his home is an acceptable place for him to stay while he awaits trial on a terrorism charge.
U.S. District Court of Colorado Judge John Kane on Friday ordered Muhtorov released from custody while he awaits trial, and set a hearing for today to determine what Muhtorov’s terms and conditions of release would be. Continue reading
CBO: Senate healthcare bill leaves 22M fewer insured by 2026, but more deficit-friendly than House’s
DENVER – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the Senate’s health care bill will leave 22 million people who currently have insurance under the Affordable Care Act without it over the next 10 years—a slight improvement on the 23 million people who would lose insurance under the House version of the bill scored in May.
But the CBO estimates that 15 million people will lose insurance next year alone when compared to those insured under the Affordable Care Act. The CBO estimated 14 million people would lose insurance in 2018 under the House version of the bill. Continue reading
Masterpiece Cakeshop owner says he’s lost 40% of business, welcomes SCOTUS hearing
DENVER – The owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, whose case involving his denial to make a cake for a gay couple was taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court Monday after being declined nearly a dozen times, says the lower court’s decision, which will now be argued in front of the nation’s highest court, has caused him to lose business and that he’s received threats.
Jack Phillips spoke with his attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group that took up his case, after the Supreme Court decided it would hear oral arguments in his case sometime later this year. Continue reading
Undocumented Denver-area woman with 3 kids deported to Mexico
DENVER – The Denver-area mother of several children arrested by federal immigration agents last Wednesday during a routine check-in was deported to Mexico on Friday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman said Sunday.
Ilse Cristina Rodriguez-Sagarnaga, 30, (also known as Isle Christina by ICE) was removed to Juarez, Mexico via El Paso, Texas on Friday, said ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok.
Rodriguez-Sagarnaga had told Denver7 earlier that day that she had been taken from ICE custody in Denver to Arizona, where her deportation was imminent.
Her attorneys and supporters have said that she has lived in the U.S. since she first entered illegally when she was 5 years old, though ICE has not been able to confirm when she came to the U.S.
She has three misdemeanor convictions in Colorado, including a guilty plea for false reporting and harassment.
Rodriguez-Sagarnaga’s attorney had claimed that the false reporting plea came after she claimed she was a victim of domestic violence at the hands an ex-husband.
Rusnok says ICE granted Rodriguez-Sagarnaga a one-year stay of removal in June 2016, and that she had requested another stay of removal, which was denied on Tuesday.
Her attorney and supporters had said she was awaiting the approval of a U-Visa, which are given to victims of domestic violence living in the country illegally who aid law enforcement during some investigations.
Her attorney had also argued that she should have been eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program because she was brought to the U.S. as a child.
Her case is the latest in a host of cases involving ICE agents arresting people in the Denver area and deporting them for minor convictions, even if they have children who are U.S. citizens.
ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have said that they will prosecute people living in the country illegally no matter their criminal record.
Undocumented mother of 3 U.S. citizens in process of being deported
UPDATE: Rodriguez-Sagarnaga has been transported to Arizona where she is expected to be immediately deported to Mexico, according to her attorney.
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DENVER – Another undocumented woman, who is the mother of three U.S.-citizen children, was arrested Wednesday by immigration agents in Denver and faces immediate deportation.
Ilse Cristina Rodriguez-Sagarnaga, 30, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents when she went to check in with the local ICE field office Wednesday.
ICE spokesman Carl Rusnok says that Rodriguez-Sagarnaga, a Mexican national, has three misdemeanor convictions in Colorado.
Colorado court records show she pleaded guilty to false reporting in 2010, and harassment.
He says it’s unclear when she first illegally entered the United States, but a federal immigration judge granted her a voluntary departure, and then a final order of removal, in October 2012.
Rusnok says ICE granted Rodriguez-Sagarnaga a one-year stay of removal in June 2016, and that she had requested another stay of removal, which was denied on Tuesday.
Jennifer Piper, with the American Friends Service Committee, which advocates for people living in the U.S. illegally and targeted for removal by ICE, says that Rodriguez-Sagarnaga has been in the U.S. since she was 5 years old.
She and her husband, Alberto, have three young daughters, aged 9 months, 22 months and 3 years, according to Piper.
Piper says that one of Rodriguez-Sagarnaga’s convictions came when she was “trying to leave an abusive ex-husband,” and that she wasn’t able to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) because of the charge.
The DACA programs allows children of undocumented parents to work or study in the U.S. without being targeted for deportation.
It’s one of the Obama-era programs the Trump administration said late last week would stay intact, though the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which was held up in federal court before it could be fully rolled out, will go away.
Since Rodriguez-Sagarnaga is the parent of children who are citizens, the program could have theoretically applied to her. Piper and Rodriguez-Sagarnaga’s attorney argue that Rodriguez-Sagarnaga could have been eligible for DACA had she not been convicted of a crime because she was brought to the U.S. as a child.
“Cristina has virtually no memory of Mexico, but could be deported without her children very soon, possibly as early as this Friday,” said her attorney James Lamb. “In all relevant respects, she is 100% as American as a native born citizen. I have known Cristina, and her family, for many years. She is the mother of three U.S. citizen children, and she has lived in the United States since the age of five, when her parents arranged for her to travel here. She is a survivor of severe domestic abuse, both as a child and in her first relationship. Since escaping the abusive relationships, she found new life and opportunities.”
Lamb and Piper say they fear Rodriguez-Sagarnaga could be deported as soon as Friday. Her supporters say she has a pending visa application as well.
Rusnok said Rodriguez-Sagarnaga remains in ICE custody in Denver pending her removal to Mexico.
Her case is the latest in a host of cases involving ICE agents arresting people in the Denver area and deporting them for minor convictions, even if they have children who are U.S. citizens.
In a video posted by American Friends Service Committee, before Cristina went to her ICE check-in she stated “For years, the immigration system has been broken and this new administration does not understand that separating families causes so much hurt, so much harm.”
Uzbek terrorism suspect Jamshid Muhtorov ordered to be released from Colorado custody after 5+ years
DENVER – A federal judge in Denver on Friday ordered the release of a refugee from Uzbekistan first jailed in 2012 on suspicions he was providing support to an Islamic jihadist group overseas, and who has yet to face a trial on the charges.
Jamshid Muhtorov will remain in U.S. Marshals custody until U.S. District Court of Colorado Judge John Kane determines at a Monday afternoon hearing what his conditions and terms of release will be. Continue reading
Trump signs ‘historic’ VA oversight bill supported by all of Colorado’s congressional delegation
DENVER – President Donald Trump on Friday signed a bill supported by all of Colorado’s congressional delegation aimed at making it easier to fire bad Veterans Affairs employees and protect whistleblowers after several high-profile scandals over the past several years.
The VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 passed the Senate on June 7 with support from both of Colorado’s senators, Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner.
It passed the House on June 13, with all of Colorado’s House of Representatives members from both sides of the aisle voting in favor of the bill.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., fulfills one of the president’s campaign promises of dismissing employees at the VA “who let our veterans down,” he said at Friday’s bill signing ceremony, promising more VA reform in the future.
“What happened was a national disgrace and yet some of the employees involved in these scandals remained on the payrolls,” Trump said at the signing, according to NPR.
“After multiple scandals at the VA, Congress worked in a bipartisan fashion and passed additional reforms that will have a real impact on our nation’s veterans,” Gardner said Friday.
Gardner, Bennet and Coffman have all lauded the bill in recent weeks.
Bennet said the bill “encourages managers and patients to address poor performance and misconduct of VA employees and grants more oversight of the department.”
He and Gardner last year worked an amendment into the national defense budget that ordered the Government Accountability Office to study the VA’s oversight over construction projects, including the plagued Aurora VA hospital, which is running years behind schedule and millions of dollars over budget.
The bill also comes three years after several veterans died while waiting for care at the Phoenix VA hospital and other centers across the country as some VA employees covered up the lengthy wait times.
Gardner said upon the Senate’s passage of the bill that he was “thrilled” and that he looked forward to the president signing the bill.
Coffman called the bill’s passage in the House a “significant step in the right direction.”
The bill was the 40th piece of legislation so far signed by President Trump, according to NPR, though the majority of those pieces have repealed Obama administration policies or modified already-existing programs.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mike Coffman to meet with Russian ambassador Friday in attempt to get missing Colorado man home
DENVER – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., will meet on Friday with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S., to try and get extra help in finding and bringing home a Colorado police officer who went missing while climbing a Russian mountain last week.
Steven Beare, a Littleton Police Department officer and National Guardsman, went missing on June 16 while climbing Mount Elbrus as part of a quest to hike the world’s seven tallest mountains.
Beare is an avid climber who has already tackled more than 20 of Colorado’s 14ers, as well as Mount Kiliminjaro.
Beare’s wife, Olivia, says the Mount Elbrus climb was his first solo climb without a guide. She says that a blizzard hit the mountain days after her husband first went missing.
Russian search parties started looking for Beare on Sunday, but had to call the search off because of bad weather.
On Wednesday, Coffman sent a letter to Kislyak requesting a meeting with him and assistance from Russia in helping find Beare.
“Mr. Ambassador, I respectfully ask that your country lend any and all aid available to efforts underway to locate Mr. Beare and bring him back to his family safely,” Coffman wrote in the letter, which was also sent to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. “I would be extremely grateful for any assistance your government can provide.”
Beare’s family told Denver7 earlier this week they don’t believe the Russian government is helping enough to locate their loved one. They have gone so far as to hire two helicopter crews along with a private search crew, which they explained has not been inexpensive.
They have started a Facebook page where they are sharing updates on the search efforts.
On Thursday, they wrote that search efforts were again put on hold because of bad weather after an attempt at a morning search.
“Please continue to pray that this damn weather will improve,” they wrote.
A Russian police officer taking part in the search told ABC News Thursday that the initial search was delayed because no one had any idea where to begin searching. He added that the search would continue Friday, likely on the southern slope of the mountain, which is located in southern Russia.